No. 3-ranked Cayuga ends Owls playoff season in area

From Staff Reports

Feb. 24, 2008 - TYLER - The Yantis Owls season came to an end at the hands of a talented Cayuga Wildcat team in the area round of the state playoffs. The Wildcats scored early and often in a 90-50 win over the Owls.

"My guys played their hearts out, but you have to give credit to Coach (Greg) Jenkins and his kids. They are deep and talented. I can see why they have been ranked in the top three in state all year," Yantis coach Larry Tucker said. "They are simply that good. Their kids just keep coming at you all over the court. We worked hard, but it just was not meant to be."

The Owls fell behind 26-7 in the first quarter and never recovered. The Owls had the early 3-0 lead on a Terry Thompson trey, but fell behind 4-3 and never saw the lead again.

Yantis was down 45-21 at intermission and 68-34 after three quarters.

The Wildcats lone senior starter, Jordan Holly led all scorers with 18 points, 16 of them coming in the first half. Also in double figures for Cayuga were Billy Duncan with 17, including five three pointers, Caleb Summerville with 13 and C.J. Wagner added 11.

The Owls were led by sophomore Tony Garcia's 14 points followed by Jordan Davis with 13 and Thompson with 10. Randy Smith added six, Daniel Cerretani four and Allen Rose three.

Davis and Smith each had eight rebounds.

"I am really proud of my seniors. Burnett, Davis and Smith have been with me for four years and they have built a great foundation for us to build on in the future. The bi-district win will be one we will all remember for a long time," Tucker said. "I am also proud of my other two seniors, Zach Wester and Carl Jordan, who always worked hard and had a team first attitude at all times."

The Owls will return a good nucleus of talent with juniors Thompson and Cerretani along with sophomore Garcia and freshman Rose returning.

"Those four underclassmen got a lot of playing time this year. Cerretani was the leading scorer for the season and Thompson came on strong in district. Garcia and Rose can both play and each could have started for just about anybody in our district this year," Tucker said. "Cory Thompson was hurt most of the year, but he will be a good one too. The JV went undefeated and won district. They had an 18-6 record so we fell pretty good about the future."

The Owls finished this season with a 19-13 record.

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